ALBA Berlin will play its fourth consecutive 7DAYS EuroCup campaign and the team has advanced at least one stage in each of the previous three. ALBA made a flying start last season by showcasing its offensive weaponry with a crushing 111-85 victory over Partizan Belgrade and proceeded to win four of its next five games to move at a rapid pace towards an early qualification for the Top 16. At that stage ALBA was undoubtedly looking like one of the best teams in the competition, having mounted a 5-1 start and won three straight road games. But then came a worrying sequence of three consecutive defeats, leaving the team in need of a home victory over RETAbet Bilbao Basket in the final round to improve to 6-4 and secure third place in Group C. The next phase started with a heavy road loss at Herbalife Gran Canaria before a dominant 95-62 home win over Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul got things back on track. But then a pair of losses against Darussafaka Istanbul and Gran Canaria extinguished hopes of a quarterfinals berth. ALBA was a worthy title contender in Germany, but came up short against FC Bayern Munich in both the German Cup and league playoff finals. It's safe to expect ALBA to contend again on all fronts this season.

Founded in 1989 as BG Charlottenburg, the club changed its name to ALBA two years later and soon started its string of success and its journey to becoming a top-class basketball organization widely respected around the continent. By raising the 1995 Korac Cup behind Sasa Obradovic, Teo Alibegovic and Coach Svetislav Pesic, ALBA became the first German team to win a European trophy. What followed was dominance on the home front as Berlin reeled off seven consecutive German League titles. Those triumphs also earned ALBA a regular spot in the EuroLeague, with players like Wendell Alexis, Henrik Rodl and Marco Pesic playing major roles in the dynasty. ALBA made it to the EuroLeague eighthfinals in 1997, 1998 and 2000 and reached the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague quarterfinals. In 2004, ALBA began a run of four straight seasons in the ULEB Cup, during which it made history by winning the longest game recorded in European club competition: a five-overtime 141-127 victory over KK Bosna in December 2007. The club won the German Cup in 2006, before winning the 2008 German League championship. In the 2008-09 EuroLeague, ALBA advanced to the Top 16 for the first time and also lifted the German Cup that season. ALBA reached the 2010 EuroCup final – cheered on by fans that traveled by car and bus all the way from Berlin due to air traffic problems – but Valencia Basket ended their chances of seeing their team lift the trophy. Former player Obradovic took over as head coach in 2012 and guided ALBA to German Cup trophies in 2013 and 2014 and more success in the EuroCup. ALBA reached the 2013-14 EuroCup quarterfinals with a 15-3 record and Reggie Redding was named to the All-EuroCup Second Team, but eventual champ Valencia stopped ALBA in the quarterfinals on point-difference. ALBA also made it back to the German League finals before losing to FC Bayern Munich. A year later, the team returned to the EuroLeague and registered Top 16 wins against FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos Athens and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv to finish the phase with a 7-7 record, but missed out on a EuroLeague playoff berth on a tiebreaker. ALBA won another German Cup in 2016 by beating Bayern in Munich in a thrilling finale, but was eliminated in the German playoff quarterfinals. The following season ALBA was initially in the hunt in every competition but finished without any trophies, and in 2018 there was more frustration as ALBA finished close runners-up to Bayern in both the German League and Cup, and was eliminated from the EuroCup in the Top 16. With its rich history, creative front office and passionate fans all bolstering the players, ALBA should be in the hunt for glory once again this season.